The One Good Thing
by R.L.Keeper
Summary: AU: An unusual friendship blooms on the night of the full moon, a large black dog comes across a girl who walks the corridors of Hogwarts as if she were a ghost. Unable to approach her by day Sirius attempts to help the girl any way he can, even as a dog.
1. 1: The First Moon

_**A/N: Random idea, not sure if it's any good or just drivel. There is a plot idea here I swear! First fan fiction in a LONG time, sorry if anyone seems OOC, I tried.  
>Any thoughts would be great! Let me know if you think it's worth continuing~<strong>_

_**UPDATE: Small edits. It should be noted that this Fic is a tad(I use the word loosely) AU, due to Rain's...background and other...stuff...(no spoilers for you!)  
><strong>_

_**I Don't own Harry Potter, it's just nice to dream.  
><strong>_

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><p><em><strong>The One Good Thing<strong>_

::~::

**Chapter One**  
><strong>The First Moon<strong>

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><p>There were three things Rain Pratt knew for certain as she sat on the edge of the forbidden lake under the light of the full moon:<p>

One: She had no talent for magic.

Two: She was muggle-born

And Three: She was probably going to throw herself into the dark water before her. Eventually.

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><p>She'd been crying again, unable to help it as she stared at the still water and wondered if anyone at the school would even realise she was missing. It was unlikely, being as she appeared to be invisible to the majority of the student body and faculty. Four years of study and she was still as friendless and unremarkable as she had been when she'd walked through the main doors the first time.<br>Rain wiped away some more stray tears from her blue eyes and sniffed. She drew her knees up and wrapped her arms around them in hope of getting a bit warmer. The night air was much colder than it had been when she'd snuck out; she mused to herself. She was still eyeing the lake, debating once again on whether she should walk in and let herself float to the bottom.

The sound of something coming towards her brought the dark-haired girl back to reality. Rain Pratt didn't move as a large black dog emerged from the shadows, stopping, almost in surprise, when it caught sight of her.  
>The dog, it seemed, hadn't been expecting to see a fourteen year old girl sitting at the edge of the lake that night. It considered her carefully, as though unsure of how to proceed. Rain blinked at the dog, remaining silent so as not to spook it; more rogue tears escaped her eyes, but she dashed them away quickly. The black dog moved forward, slowly at first, still watching her closely. When it got within arms reach it seemed to notice her tear stained cheeks; it wagged it's tail at her hopefully. She forced a smile of encouragement, an instinctive reaction.<br>It tilted it's head at her and moved closer, resting it's head on her knees and whining slightly while wagging it's tail ever so slightly. Another smile, this one far less forced. She petted the dog's head slowly, enjoying the company, even if it was from a dog.

"Hey boy," she said softly. A pair startlingly human grey-blue eyes looked up at her, appearing slightly worried, "don't worry, I'm alright. I just needed to get out of there for a bit. Sometimes the place makes me feel like I'm suffocating," the dog appeared confused by these words, but, as he was a dog only whined softly in response.  
>He pulled away and lay down next to her, rolling onto his back playfully. For his efforts he got a quiet snort of amusement and a belly rub, both of which seemed to placate the dog somewhat. "I suppose it's nice to know someone cares, canine or not," the girl shook her head sadly.<p>

She suspected her unlikely companion of the evening would have probably continued with his current actions of cheering her up, were it not for a long low howl disrupting the night air. The dog froze at this sound, then had stood quite suddenly; ears cocked as he listened intently to the shadowy moonlit landscape around them. "What's the matter?" Rain asked hesitantly. She then shook her head at herself, muttering about being alone for far too long. She was talking to an animal like it understood her now, what was next? Yelling at books for not telling her what she wanted them to? Perish the thought, if that were to happen she would definitely throw herself in the lake.  
>Again she was pulled from her thoughts by the dog. He had her sleeve in his jaws and was gently, if not firmly, urging her to rise. She obliged after he growled slightly and pulled a little harder on her sleeve. Once standing the dog began trying to lead her back toward the castle, Rain shook her head, wanting to stay by the lake a little longer.<br>He growled again, a little louder this time and gave up on the sleeve, choosing to quickly trot behind her and push his head between her legs; forcing the stunned girl to ride him. Barely having time to wonder if she was too heavy Rain and the dog were off, heading toward the dark silhouette of the castle as fast as he could with a girl on his back.  
>"Either I'm lighter than I thought," she began, "or you are much stronger than you look," if the dog heard her he didn't respond. He was constantly looking this way and that, as if he were worried about something else appearing out of the shadows.<p>

They were nearly at the sprawling stone castle when a second long low howl, much louder this time, called out from the dark. The large animal tensed beneath her and quickened his pace. Then a pair of snapping jaws practically flew out of the night at her, Rain screamed and the dog barked and growled at the beast. She was on the ground, watching as the dog tried his best to drive the beast away. A stag then raced onto the scene and the dumbfounded girl watched mutely as the two animals steered the wolf-like creature back toward the Forbidden Forest. The stag didn't wait around, instead chasing after the creature as quickly as possible. Rain blinked, she would have sworn there was a rat riding on the stags head, but that was stupid. Rats did not ride around on stags heads for fun, did they?  
>The dog trotted back towards the girl, climbing over her as he checked for injuries. Thankfully she had been spared tonight, a shame, going out in a fight would have been quite nice now she thought about it. <p>

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><p>She'd said goodnight to her canine companion and assured the strange animal that she would be fine before he'd raced off into the night. Rain had no doubt he was following the creature that had attacked them, what for she wasn't sure of however.<p>

She walked along the outer wall now, looking for a particular stone that didn't fit with the others. It didn't take her long, she'd been using the passageway for two years after all; it was just harder to find at night.  
>Quietly, so as not to be caught by any teachers, Rain made the trip to the Gryffindor without incident. Though admittedly she had nearly been caught by Professor McGonagall as she had peeked around a tapestry to see if the coast was clear.<p>

Finding her way to her room and changing quietly so as not to disturb her room-mates(not that she ever did), Rain found herself tucked up in bed with her mind still reeling. What had that creature been? Why had the strange dog hung around her, instead of going about it's business as a normal animal would have. The girl sighed and closed her eyes, it was nice having something else to think about, other than thinking up ways she could die. Ah well, she thought. Almost amused, there's always tomorrow for that. With these lonely thoughts the girl drifted off into unconsciousness, to dream of large black dogs with human eyes and for once, she didn't have a nightmare. 

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><p>At breakfast the next morning Rain Pratt did not notice a dark haired boy lean forward in his seat and look down the table at her. She also didn't notice his grey-blue eyes watch as she pushed her food around her plate silently.<p>

The boy watched as she left the Great Hall, hunched over and looking pointedly at the floor. She hadn't eaten anything that morning.  
>His friends called him back to their conversation and he allowed it, unable to do anything now she was gone from his sight.<p> 


	2. 2: The Impossible Girl

**A/N: Holy cow, I didn't expect that many faves/alerts to come from one chapter! Thanks to 'bookkeeper' for the encouragement, it was really nice to wake up to such a nice surprise. I didn't think anyone would actually read this drivel that keeps spouting from my fingers and mind, I have a decent idea where it's going, but it might take a while. These chapters are short compared to what I usually write(6000 words a chapter), but they just seem to want to be short. Who knows, they might get longer as we get into the story.**

**Let me know what you think! I'd love to know your opinions so far. **

**UPDATED!  
><strong>

**-Rue  
><strong>

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><p><strong>The One Good Thing<strong>

**::~::  
><strong>

**Chapter Two  
>The Impossible Girl<strong>

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><p>It had been a week since the full moon. He'd been watching her for a week, or had tried to at least. Between pranking anyone he and James felt like(usually Snape but not exclusively so), classes and everything else he'd first had trouble picking out his mysterious oddity of a girl from the crowd of students that clogged the corridors during the day. At first his eyes had simply slid around her, almost refusing to see her and this had been his first problem.<p>

His second problem was James and Remus. They were beginning to notice that he was distracted by something. The boys had asked about the girl the next day, if only to stop the unbidden guilt that had been brewing. Remus had barely remembered the encounter bar her scream and that he had a few extra bruises where James had been forced to drive him away from her. James however, while concerned she had been hurt in the fray had been satisfied when Sirius had shrugged and told his friends that she had appeared to be uninjured.  
>His third problem, and possibly his worst problem. She was distracting him, not the usual way a pretty girl distracted him mind. This was more subtle, when he thought back to the moment he'd found her, curled up on the bank of the Black Lake with her tear-stained face; he couldn't help but worry. He couldn't understand why he was worrying either; she wasn't obviously pretty, like the girls that had usually caught his eye the past year. She didn't stand out at all, in fact she blended in so well sometimes people seemed to think she was part of the furniture. More than once the past few days he'd seen someone actually try and sit down on the seat she was sitting in, only to be surprised when they found her there.<p>

She always wore her dark hair in a loose, messy bun and kept her blue eyes to the ground. Her sleeves always seemed to cover half her hand and she was always neat and tidy. She also rarely ate at meals, preferring to push her food around her plate more often than not.  
>Sirius sighed in confused frustration as he watched her head for the Arthimancy room from his position next to James. The boys were sitting in one of the smaller courtyards, James was eyeing Snape off as he walked with Lily Evens and Remus was reading a book he'd found in the library. Peter on the other hand, was flitting between trying to act cool like his friends and watching the other boys carefully. An annoying habit the boy had picked up due to being a follower by nature.<p>

A group of sixth year Slytherins pushed past the girl roughly, not even glancing at her as she stumbled slightly in their wake. Sirius eyed them, but as his reputation preceded him it was unlikely she would appreciate any help or attention he gave her. Instead opting to hex them from afar once she was clear; grinning as the three older boys cried out in surprise when their robes caught fire for no reason. Not his best work, but he hadn't invested much thought in it either.

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><p>Remus caught his eye on the way to class, frowning slightly at his friend.<p>

"What is it Moony?" he asked nonchalantly. Keeping his eyes ahead of him, while eyeing some pretty girls that waved at him(while giggling) as they walked the other way. He grinned at them but a tug on his robes brought him back to Remus' intrigued and partially amused gaze.

"You were staring at her again during break," Sirius' first reaction was to immediately stifle Remus' words as quickly as possible, if James caught wind there would be no end to it.

"I wasn't staring," he hissed at Remus as he covered the other boy's mouth with his hand. Remus was sniggering behind his friends hand however, highly amused by Sirius' instinctive actions. "I was surveying the area for appropriate pranks," he continued in hushed tones. James was walking in front of them, thankfully more interested in his current conversation with Frank Longbottom about their latest homework from 'Minnie'.

"Yes, setting fire to some sixth year Slytherin's robes is an excellent prank Sirius, your best work yet," James said sarcastically over his shoulder. He'd noticed, damn him. Sirius growled and pushed Remus away, the sandy haired boy was still snickering away.

"Drop it Moony," Sirius warned. Annoyed that his friends had read him so easily, of course, he wasn't even sure the word 'subtle' was in his personal dictionary. 

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><p>For the following weeks James and Remus(even Peter at times) prodded him regularly about the girl. So far he hadn't been able to catch her name even once and it was beginning to get to him, in his mind he vaguely called her 'mouse' due to the way she hid herself from others and scurried around the castle quietly. Though he didn't like this temporary name at all, somehow it just didn't quite fit.<p>

He was watching her from the other end of the Gryffindor table, she wasn't eating her breakfast again. He'd mentioned it to the others after a few days of constant prodding at meal-times and they too had slowly begun to take interest in the oddity of 'Mouse'.  
>"How many meals does she eat usually?" Remus asked quietly. He was seated next to Sirius and was also eyeing the girl, though the expression on his face wasn't something Sirius recognised. Running a hand through his dark, somewhat shaggy, hair, Sirius thought for a moment and grimaced.<p>

"One, usually, though sometimes she doesn't eat at all," at these words James looked up from his plate.

"One? Bloody hell, how is she still walking around?" he asked incredulously. He peered down the table at her, she'd taken out a brown notebook now and was quickly jotting things down. She wasn't using a quill.  
>Sirius shook his head at her lack of regard for her own well-being, more interested in what was going on inside her own head than keeping herself alive. He'd noticed this the week before, but was only now realising the implications.<p>

"Impossible girl," he muttered. Going back to his own breakfast, glaring at the mountain of food he'd piled on his plate upon sitting down. Shovelling in a forkful of egg, bacon and sausage, he looked up to see James grinning.

"Nice to see she's not affecting your appetite yet, mate," Sirius scowled and flicked some egg as his friend across the table. When he'd visited James at his home during the previous summer he'd earned the title 'Bottomless Pit' from James's mother as he always appeared to have room for more food.  
>Glancing down the table again at 'Mouse' he swallowed the mouthful of food slowly, he'd just lost his appetite. She'd won this round, he decided, pushing his plate away as his friends watched with matching grins. He would, however, win the next one. Not that he was going to keep track. <p>

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><p>It wasn't until another few days had past that Sirius caught a glimpse of her slipping out of the common room after curfew. It had been accidental, he'd looked around for her in between games of exploding snap and spied her quietly sliding out of the portrait hole that led to the rest of the castle. The moment the small opening closed behind her he grinned, 'Padfoot' was going for 'Mouse-hunt' tonight.<p> 


	3. 3: First Attempt

**A/N: Three chapters in one day(more or less). I was on a role today, the words just kept coming. It was nice to have a diversion from my novel, thanks to everyone who is adding this to faves/alerts. It's surprising and motivating at the same time! I hope I don't let you guys down with this, I rather like the story(though I have no doubt the actual idea behind it has been done to death, I wanted to try it anyway.). There's an important plot device mentioned in this chapter, can you spot it?  
>Read and review, I love to hear peoples thoughts~<br>-Rue**

**UPDATED!  
><strong>

**I don't own Harry Potter, I simply dream.  
><strong>

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><p><strong>The One Good Thing<strong>

**::~::  
><strong>

**Chapter Three  
>First Attempt<strong>

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><p>There were three things Rain Pratt knew for certain;<p>

One: She had no talent for magic.

Two: She was muggle-born

And Three: She was going to throw herself into the dark water before her. Tonight.

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><p>Rain walked down to the lake slowly, her mind made up. She was going to do it, she couldn't handle the loneliness anymore. The castle was swallowing her whole, leaving her nothing but a ghost of a person and when she went home for the summer it was worse. Her parents had nearly killed her more times than she'd tried to do it herself, which wasn't a small number and her seven muggle siblings taunted her and threw rocks at her at every chance.<br>Reaching the edge of the lake, Rain stared out at the still surface of the water. Closing her sad blue eyes, she took a deep breath to calm herself and stepped into the water.

She was barely knee deep when she heard a loud, anxiety-filled bark behind her. Turning, she saw her furry friend from a few weeks back running backward and forward along the bank. He was whining at her, upset with how far she was from the edge of the lake. She smiled at him sadly, unsure of what to do. When she'd left the common room she had been sure she wouldn't be missed; now, seeing the distressed canine before her she wasn't so certain.  
>Sighing, Rain turned around and wadded back to the waters edge. The black dog calmed when she reached him, wagging his tail as he looked up at her with his so-human grey-blue eyes.<p>

"You know," she said, kneeling in front of him and ruffling his fur, "you really have bad timing," the look he gave her could almost be translated as a 'nuh uh!'. Sighing she held up her hands and stepped out of the water entirely and sat on the ground next to him, "fine, you have ridiculously good timing," she conceded softly. He wagged his tail contently next to her, watching the girl carefully from the corner of his eye.  
>It didn't take long for all the pain she'd been suppressing to bubble to the surface, leaning lightly against her furry friend she began to cry softly. The dog whined at her again and shifted next to her. Rain wrapped her arms around his neck and hid her face in his fur as she wept, her body shook from the emotional pain that swept through her. The dog bowed his head, lightly nosing her shoulder in response to her tears. "I hate this place," she whispered through the tears. He whined and shifted again, carefully turning his body to face her so he could give her a hug, as well as a large(somewhat shaggy)black dog could.<p>

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><p>The dog patiently sat with her for an hour as she cried herself out. Pulling back from him, Rain wiped her face and sniffed. He looked down at her, eyes filled with concern and leaned forward to lick her nose gently. She graced him with a small laugh and ruffled his fur again grateful for his presence.<p>

"Thank you," she said as she rubbed his ears. His tail wagged and he stood up, trotting around her playfully. Crouching on the ground, bum in the air he barked at her; his tail was almost a blur. It seemed he now wanted to cheer her up now she had calmed down and the best way a dog knew how was to play.  
>Rain hauled herself to her feet slowly, giving him a small smile she shook her head at him affectionately. Watching as her new friend padded over to a nearby shrub and pulled out a decent sized stick. As she watched him trot over to her she felt as though a small flicker of hope had been lit, perhaps all was not lost. She threw the stick for him and laughed as he shot off after it, dancing about with it in his mouth for a while before returning it to the girl for her to throw again.<p>

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><p>They played for another hour, though this one seemed much shorter. As they say; time flies when you're having fun. Fun he'd given her, for the first time in so long; she had smiled and laughed without having to force it out. For a brief moment, she was happy, but now it was over and it was time to go back to the loneliness of her dorm room.<p>

He walked next to her, there was no fears of a monster in the shadows tonight, just them and the night. Her fingers were tangled in his black fur, it gave her comfort to know he was there when she needed him. Impossible thing, she thought in amusement as they walked back to the castle, impeccable timing. She looked down at the animal at her side, he was walking steadfastly onward. She absently wondered what card he would be in her deck, but pushed the thought down, there was no room for it now. He's trouble this one, she smiled at that one, agreeing with her inner commentary.  
>When they reached the castle, where he'd left her that night; she stopped and looked down at him.<br>"I'm Rain by the way," she told him, crouching down to give him a hug, "good night boy and thank you," she ruffled his fur one last time and disappeared into the shadows of the castle wall. She used the secret passage way into the castle and hurried up to her dorm room as silently and quickly as she could.  
>She was still alive.<p>

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><p>Once she was gone the dog walked through a shadow, walking out the other side a somewhat dazed fourteen year old boy.<p>

"Rain," he said to himself smiling, "good night Rain," he looked up at the night sky and grinned. Point, mine. Next round! He thought triumphantly, and why shouldn't he, he'd stopped her attempt on her life. With those thoughts fresh in his mind he hurried over to where he'd left his broom, ignoring the pit of worry in his stomach.  
>Worry was for tomorrow, tonight had been a victory.<p>

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><p><strong>AN: "WE WANT A SHRUBBERY!" (sorry it had to be done)**


	4. 4: Operation: Weather Watch

**A/N: Longer chapter is longer. Not heaps longer, but it's better than the others have been. Done on the fly while a bit sicky so there may be mistakes here and there, so let me know if you see any. I do like this chapter, the boys are just starting to notice her oddities and realise something is, in fact, wrong with Rain.**

**Please Review, hearing peoples thoughts on chapters makes my day! Seriously!**

**UPDATED!  
><strong>

**-Rue  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>The One Good Thing<strong>

**::~::  
><strong>

**Chapter Four  
>Operation: Weather Watch<strong>

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><p>Sirius' victory from the night before continued on to the next morning as he observed Rain eat a proper breakfast. Satisfied that his work was done he too was able to finish his own pile of food. James glanced down the table at her, she was eating and writing in her brown notebook again.<br>"What do you think she's writing?" he asked, taking a bite of toast. Sirius shrugged as he shovelled his breakfast into his mouth happily.

"Advanced Arthrimancy," Remus told them, not looking up from his own breakfast. James and Sirius looked at him in surprise, their laden forks forgotten.

"How'd you know that?" Sirius demanded. Remus grinned at them over his nearly empty plate and shrugged. He leaned forward, motioning for the others to do so.

"She sits at the back of the class," he explained quietly, "before class she does some writing in the book, I was curious and knew you would ask eventually. So I waited till she started writing and walked behind her to my seat while having a look at her page," he leaned back and ate another fork-full before continuing. "From what I saw, she's quite capable of breezing through the work we're given. She just prefers to get mediocre grades I guess," he sighed. James gave a low whistle and shook his head at Sirius' impressed and slightly worried face.

"So she's brilliant but doesn't want to be?" he asked for clarification. Remus shrugged, he really didn't know.

"To be honest, I don't even know what her name is," he answered. He raked a hand through his sandy hair a mite frustrated by this.

"It's Rain," Sirius told his friends quietly. He wasn't so confident of his apparent victory now, as he watched her he realised she was only eating a small portion of what was on her fork. Why would you want to be so invisible? he asked her silently. No answer came of course, the oddity of Rain just seemed to become more complex by the day.

"Hey! Sirius!" James gave him a shake to bring him back to the conversation, "I said, how do you know that?" Sirius shovelled in another fork-full of breakfast and downed his pumpkin juice.

"She told me," he answered simply, grabbing his bag to leave. James frowned at his friend, he was quite certain Sirius hadn't spoken to the girl yet.

"When?" he demanded, grabbing his own bag. Remus and Peter both did the same, following them and the conversation from the other side of the table with interest.

"Last night," he was trying to evade James' inquiries by answering with as few words as possible. It wasn't working.

"You didn't talk to her last night," James countered. They'd played exploding snap last night till quite late, then all gone to bed at the same time.

"I didn't say I talked to her last night," Sirius said through clenched teeth, "I said she told me," he added a little less tensely as an afterthought. He was walking towards transfiguration, 'Minnie' was going to be surprised to see them on time for once.

"Care to explain then?" Remus was walking behind him. He'd poked his head between Sirius and James to make sure they knew he was in on this friendly interrogation. Sirius sighed as they walked into the class room and ran a hand through his shaggy dark hair.

"Later," he said taking his seat. The other boys sat down in their own around him, eyebrows raised and shooting questioning looks at each other and Sirius.  
>Last night he'd thought he'd saved the day, but perhaps there was more to her story than he'd originally thought. Yes, she'd tried to kill herself, but there was more to it than that. She had no friends that he'd seen in the few weeks he'd been observing her, she was quiet and mediocre in class. When, according to Remus, she was actually rather bright. It didn't make sense, it wasn't that she was unfriendly. He needed a plan, thankfully, he had a couple of brilliant friends who were quite good at things like that. He wondered how much it would take to get them on board, Remus already seemed interested but James might not like taking away more of their free time to prank people(like Snape).<p>

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><p>James tossed a small ball of parchment at him to get his attention halfway through class, he looked up from his cat-shaped teapot in partial relief. James nodded his head to a spot behind them, when he looked he spied Rain sitting in her chair wand in hand. Looking carefully he noticed that she wasn't actually trying to perform the spell at all, she was simply waiting. Eyeing the class every now and again, the girl simply sat, appearing to look at the teapot before her with focus. When, in truth, she was writing in her notebook under the desk.<p>

Sirius looked back at James who was grinning at him, he frowned at his friend who was obviously enjoying watching Sirius' expressions when it came to Rain. Snorting softly Sirius returned to his teapot, trying again, to transfigure it into a cat. All he got was the fluffy end of the cat's tail twitching at the end of the spout. James laughed but his teapot-to-kitty attempts weren't much better. Sure, they could become an animal at will(most of the time), but turning a teapot into a cat stumped them completely. Well, not Remus of course, but he studied regularly; where as he and James did not. And Peter, well, he just wasn't all that good at anything now Sirius thought about it as he eyed the other boy's cat-eared kettle.

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><p>By the end of the class Sirius had managed to transfigure most of his teapot into a cat, there was a bit of porcelain here and there(like one of the poor things feet) but it was passable according to 'Minnie'. He glanced back at Rain, she was petting her perfectly transfigured grey tabby-cat calmly as she listened to McGonagall give them their homework and added a bit here and there to her notebook. Impossible girl, he repeated his thought from days before in amusement.<p>

"Well?" Remus asked once they were out in the crowded corridors on the way to lunch.

"She snuck out of the common room last night, so I followed her after you fell asleep." he shrugged.

"How'd you get out?" James asked incredulously. Sirius grinned to himself, he couldn't believe he'd never thought of it before really.

"Broom," he told them, sitting down at the Gryffindor table. He began to gather himself a mountain of food, that double transfiguration lesson with 'Minnie' always made him hungry.

"Broom?" James repeated, stunned, "how did we not think of that? How did I not think of that?" Remus' mouth twitched as he ate some pie.

"Probably because it's not nearly as dangerous as sneaking around the corridors at night," James and Sirius both looked at their friend blankly for a moment and then grinned, admitting that was probably the reason. The boys were silent for a moment as they fed their faces with the large variety of lunch-time foods the house-elves had made for them.

"So," James said after his hunger had been tempered somewhat, "how did she tell you her name without you actually talking to her?" Sirius rolled his eyes, maybe James would be easier to get on board than he'd thought?

"Dogs can't talk Prongs," he said after a moment. Looking at his friend across the table as if it were the most obvious thing.

"So you what, played a bit of 'fetch-the-stick' with her and she told you her name?" Sirius' grey-blue eyes glared at James over the heavily laden plates between them.

"I did not play fetch," he lied evenly. It had been a bit of a joke when they'd finally managed to transform early that year and Sirius had sworn he would never play that stupid game. Perhaps he had played it with Rain, but that was between them and James would never let him hear the end of it if he admitted to it.

"Then what happened?" Remus pushed, wanting an answer. Sirius looked down at his plate, remembering his panic at seeing her calmly walking into the lake fully clothed. He'd known what she was doing the moment he saw her and had done the only thing he could think of; bark.

"She," he began, trying to find the words, "she tried to off herself," it was almost like word-vomit, coming out quickly and leaving a nasty taste in the air between the four boys. James and Remus looked mortified, their mouths hanging open from shock. Even Peter, who had been quietly listening to the conversation since it had began at breakfast, had stopped feeding his face to stare at Sirius.

"She-she what?" Remus stammered slightly. He looked down the table to where Rain sat writing in her book again, thankfully, she was eating a sandwich slowly. Two meals in a day? Sirius noted to himself, she must be having a good day, he turned back to his friends to explain a little more.

"When I found her she was walking into the lake," James pushed his plate away and Remus followed suit. Sirius grimaced and pushed his own meal away, he too had lost his appetite. Peter looked from James and Remus, to Sirius and then down at his own plate; he swallowed his current mouthful then pushed his food away unhappily.

"And?" Remus pushed again. Sirius shifted in his seat, he'd never been good with crying girls, though he had to give himself credit for last night. The best thing he'd done was let her cry herself out, he'd have to remember that for the future; talking always landed you in hot water when a girl was crying after all.

"And, when I got her out of the lake, she-well," he scratched his head uncomfortably, "she cried, a lot," he sighed then and leaned against the table, looking down at the polished wooden surface, "she said she hates it here," he told them sadly.

"Hates Hogwarts?" James asked. Sirius nodded, he looked down the table where she'd been sitting not moments ago but Rain had vanished from the Great Hall. He frowned, but did nothing, he couldn't do anything for her now. "How could anyone hate Hogwarts?" James demanded dragging Sirius back to the conversation for the second time that day.

"Well she has no friends to start with," Remus argued. Sirius nodded when James looked to the apparent 'expert' on all-things-Rain.

"She mentioned that sometimes she feels like the castle is suffocating her, when I found her the first time," he added to Remus' comment. James was confused, how could a castle suffocate someone?

"Sirius, why haven't you just walked up and introduced yourself? It's not like you to be shy," Remus asked him suddenly. He folded his arms and grimaced, he knew Remus had a point. He also knew he'd had that very argument in his own head since day one, it hadn't gone well to say the least.

"Can't say I haven't thought about it," he sighed. Unable to keep the exasperation out of his voice, "but with my track record I doubt she'd think I was being serious," James grinned mischievously at these words and laughed.

"Yeah, she'd probably think you were having her on or pranking her or something!" he exclaimed through snorts of laughter. Sirius glared at him again, sometimes James could be such a prat, or, in Evens' words the last time they'd had a bit of fun with Snape; 'toe-rag'.

"So, what? You're just going to keep appearing to her as a dog and hope for the best?" Remus asked amused. Sirius groaned and dropped his head onto the table at the thought; this was a bad idea, a very, very bad idea. Why couldn't he just run after a pretty girl again and forget it all happened? Much easier.

"We'll need a plan," James said suddenly. Sirius looked up surprised, James was still grinning at him in amusement.

"What?" he asked confused. James didn't stop grinning and it seemed to be catching as Remus was also grinning at him now.

"Hero always gets the girl, mate, just got to figure out how," Sirius groaned again and thumped his head on the table. He should have known it would end up like this, James and Remus were now convinced he had some weird feelings for Rain and were now going to begin an operation to get them together. He was doomed.

"We should give it a code name, for when there's people around," Peter piped up. Sirius squeezed his eyes shut, cursing Peter silently for encouraging James.

"Yes!" James hissed enthusiastically. Thinking for a moment he banged his fist on the table triumphantly, getting Sirius' attention enough for the boy to raise his head a little, "we'll call it 'Operation: Weather Watch'!" he declared grinning. Sirius rolled his eyes at the declaration, it was a lame name.

"Weather Watch? That's the best you got in that so-called brilliant head of yours?" he asked unimpressed, raising an eyebrow as he did. James shrugged,

"It was either that or 'Black Rain'," Sirius sighed and rubbed his head in defeat.

"Weather Watch it is," he agreed unenthusiastically. 


	5. 5: First Reading: A Day for Reminiscing

**AN: Ok, firstly I would like to say sorry for making you all wait for this chapter and sorry it's so short. To be honest I wasn't really sure what to do with this one and I've been distracted with life.  
>It must also be pointed out for those who have been waiting(and have already read the other chapters before today) that I have updated the previous chapters before posting this one and changed the year the characters are in because 1.) it makes things easier for me and 2.) it's a little more believable that the boys can transform(with difficulty) now. Instead of third years they are fourth years(mid to late in the year by the weather I think). <strong>

**I think I like writing Sirius better than Rain, he's more fun at the moment.  
><strong>

**Hope you guys like this chapter, it's not long or that great but it gives a little insight into Rain's past...just a little.**

**Reviews always welcome~**

**-Rue  
><strong>

**I don't own Harry Potter...I dream~  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>The One Good Thing<br>**

**::~::**

**Chapter Five  
>Reading One - A day f<strong>**or Reminiscing**

* * *

><p>There were three things Rain Pratt knew for certain;<p>

One: She had some talent for magic.

Two: She was, unfortunately, muggle-born.

And Three: She was going to throw herself into the Forbidden Lake at some point. Maybe.

* * *

><p>After finishing her egg sandwich Rain had quickly headed for her Charms class, albeit not with the enthusiasm she had for Transfiguration. It wasn't Professor Flitwick's fault, she just didn't do well with charms. So far she'd managed to blow herself up at least once a month since first year and still maintained unnoticed by her classmates. A feat she was quite proud of due to the fact that some of the explosions had sent her to the hospital wing.<p>

Sitting quietly in the empty classroom Rain pulled out her leather bound notebook again and flipped to the page she'd been working on at lunch. She wasn't even sure where she was going with this equation, it was supposed to help her figure out whether she would actually make friends while at Hogwarts. So far she hadn't got much than a vague 'maybe' in Arthrimatic terms, but she wasn't finished with the numbers so she had a little hope. The 'maybe' might mean the black dog that had appeared before her twice now and although she appreciated his concern, he was just a dog when all was said and done.

Sighing Rain returned her focus back to the equation before her as the classroom slowly began to fill up with more students. She didn't notice the group of four Gryffindor boys enter the room, talking in hushed tones as they took their seats. Only looking up when Professor Flitwick tapped his wand for his students attention. Reluctantly Rain put her muggle pen and notebook away quietly to give her full attention to her Professor and his lesson.

* * *

><p>Halfway through the lesson Rain had managed to somehow get her book to fly, however instead of going to the bookshelf as it was supposed to it was constantly flying into the side of her head with considerable enthusiasm.<p>

"I'm not a bookshelf you stupid fat brick," she said to it quietly through clenched teeth. The book hit her harder this time; almost knocking her off her chair and giving her an instant headache. Rubbing her temple gingerly Rain glared at the book and in a moment of anger set the blasted book on fire as she tried to un-charm it. She would have banged her head on the desk if it weren't already throbbing, charms really wasn't her subject.

"Careful Miss Pratt, anger doesn't go well with charms work," Professor Flitwick told her good-naturedly as he put out the burning book floating before her. The diminutive Charms teacher had become quite used to dealing with her 'little hiccups' during class as he fondly called them. Rain called them 'unquestionably failures', particularly the ones that landed her under the care of Madame Pomfrey over night or longer.

"Sorry Professor, it was giving me a headache with the pointy corners," she explained shrugging. The tiny wizard nodded and patted her shoulder gently, encouraging her not to give up on her charms work completely. Rain didn't give up after her Professor moved on to help another student exactly, she just stopped actually trying to do the charm for real. Instead going back to her tried and true tactic of looking like she was doing something without actually doing it. This was a well practised art that she had perfected as a child during her muggle schooling, particularly during those long math classes. Numbers made sense, they were easy and never let her down; unlike the people around her. Like her favourite aunt, Celestine(or Aunty Selly as she had called the woman as a child), who had utterly vanished from her life shortly after her eleventh birthday.

Rains mind wandered back to the family reunion where she had met her aunt, the woman had been using tarot cards for the children, keeping the little blighters amused for a small time to give their parents a small respite. Her long light brown hair was messily placed in a long braid down her back and her sharp, bright blue eyes had quickly met Rain's own startled ones that mirrored her aunts in every way. When the other children had lost interest in the tricks of an 'old woman' Rain had stood in front of the little table, a tiny six year old girl with long messy raven coloured hair and her blue eyes curiously watching the cards as her aunt shuffled them gracefully. The woman had introduced herself as she placed the cards between them on the small table she'd set up for the readings. She had then explained that the cards she'd lined up were for Rain and were a spread to reveal her future.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Reading One - Rain age six<strong>_

_The Sun - "Hope will always be within you"_

_The Tower - "Change and possible isolation"_

_The Magician - "Magic is in your future"_

* * *

><p>Rain hadn't really paid much attention to her aunts predictions at the time but looking back the woman had been right, maybe not about the hope thing, but right nonetheless. As student around her began to leave the classroom the girl snapped back to the present and realised she had spent the remainder of the class reminiscing about things better left forgotten. Shaking her head in disgust at herself Rain packed away her things and left for the library, intending on doing some more research into who or what the creature that had attacked her was.<p>

* * *

><p>She was sitting in the quiet of the library, books on all manner of magical creatures were strewn around her table and she was still not getting anywhere. If she'd had a better look at the thing maybe she'd have a better idea of where to go but the near attack had happened so fast all she had was that low howl and that it was quite large. Rain sighed and leaned her head on her hand, letting her eyes wander around the partially deserted library. She'd skipped dinner entirely, not willing to end her search for answers when the other students left and Madame Pince had begun looking at her sternly half an hour ago.<p>

Hearing something much like a muffled 'shush' behind her Rain turned, there was a bookshelf at her back but she was quite certain there were others on the other side. Slytherins maybe? They were pranksters by any means by the sounds of the way they were 'shushing' each other. Rain rolled her eyes and stood up, she was tired, hungry and a mite frustrated; a bad combination for anyone. Walking around the bookshelf Rain prepared for whoever was waiting on the other side, only to find the dark book-lined dead-end void of life. Scanning the area before her suspiciously Rain pulled out her wand and cast _lumos _in hopes of seeing someone in the darkness, no luck. There simply wasn't anyone there and yet, Rain was certain she'd heard multiple someone's behind her when she was sitting down. She was also certain that they hadn't had time to leave the library, which left her two options; she was finally cracking from lack of proper human contact or the someone's had a way of hiding quickly.

"That's it," she said to herself distractedly, "I'm losing it, marbles officially gone to the dogs," she smiled softly at the last word. Thoughts of her furry friend sending her back to her books, packing them up Rain left the library lost in her own thoughts once again.

It seemed today was a day for reminiscing. Blast it, she'd forgotten to plan her next attempt. _Ah well, there's tomorrow for that._


	6. 6: The Smallest Spark

**AN: This one was fun to write and hardly planned. Just one thing that happens when I start writing, the unexpected moments~**  
><strong>I didn't plan for the end of this chapter at all, in fact it's completely unplanned and unexpected. The idea just sprang up and, like Sirius, I went with it.<strong>  
><strong>As a note for this chapter, she didn't charm it herself, she got it elsewhere as Rain fails at Charms.<strong>

**Hope you enjoy the antics,  
>-Rue<br>PS: Still looking for a beta!**

* * *

><p><strong>The One Good Thing<strong>

**::~::  
><strong>

**Chapter Six  
>The Smallest Spark<strong>

* * *

><p>When Rain left the library all four boys beneath James' handy invisibility cloak exhaled the breath they'd all been holding since the girl had walked to the entrance of their hiding place.<p>

"Bloody hell," James breathed, "if we weren't already under this thing what do you think she would have done to us?" Sirius grinned at the question. He wasn't sure he actually wanted to know, but Merlin, he did know he wanted to see that spark in her eyes again.

"Maybe turn us into kettles?" he answered eventually, when neither Remus or Peter offered one of their own. James snorted and pulled the cloak off them as Remus now moved to see what books she had left behind. The only reason they'd been almost caught at all was because they'd been arguing over what she was reading. James had called Transfiguration and Peter had agreed, Remus had argued that she was probably looking at Arthrimancy book and Sirius had been the one to 'shush' them(for once).

"Uh oh," alerted to Remus' concern the other boys joined him at Rain's now vacant table. There they found something very concerning, she'd been reading books on various magical creatures and a small notebook that she'd accidentally left behind in her hurry to leave. On the first page of the little book was a list that Remus was staring at worriedly;

* * *

><p><em><strong>Mysterious Creature:<strong>_

_Fast_

_Long low howl_

_Carnivorous_

_Land based_

_Friends with other animals?_

_Full moon appearance?_

* * *

><p>"This can't be good," James said taking the notebook from his worried friend. He frowned as he looked at the list properly, "you think she knows?" he asked the others, mirroring Remus' worried stare.<p>

"There's a question mark after the full moon comment, if she knew I'm pretty sure there'd be a 'werewolf' comment there too," Sirius argued. Remus gave a weak smile and nodded in agreement, conceding that Sirius had a point.

"There's some books on canines too," Peter said from the other side of the table. His attention caught, Sirius walked around the table to look at the books Peter was referring to. He raised an amused eyebrow at some of the titles she'd chosen; _'Seeing the Grim', 'Canine Spirit Guides and You' _and _'Magical Dogs and their properties'_.

"Looks like I made an impression last night," he said grinning in amusement at her selections. He held up the book on 'The Grim' to show James, who grinned back at his friend.

"I'd say so Pads," James held up the second page of the notebook to Sirius in response. There was another list on it and by the look on James' face it was about him, taking the book with him Sirius walked back over to James to peer over his shoulder at the second list they'd found in the notebook.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Furry Friend<strong>_

_Not an ordinary dog_

_Intelligent_

_Impossible timing_

_Friendly_

_The Grim?(not likely, too friendly)_

_Animagus? (possible)_

_Student or Teacher?_

* * *

><p>James had snickered at the first five comments but when both James and Sirius' faces had paled considerably after reading the last two both Remus and Peter had hurried over to see what was wrong.<p>

"Hate to say it, but I think we're all royally screwed if she figures out who you are and tells the teachers, mate," James said finally after they'd all taken in Rain's comments about her 'furry friend'.

"That's putting it lightly," Sirius groaned and began pacing. On one hand he was impressed with her deductions and on the other he was horrified that she was able to figure it out that quickly.

"Hold on," Remus stopped Sirius from pacing with a hand on his friend's shoulder, "it's like you said about my page, there are question marks so she doesn't know for sure," Sirius' shoulders slumped in partial relief. He knew Remus was right and was glad his tired looking friend still had his wits about him the night before his 'furry little problem' took over.

"Right," he said. Taking a deep breath he looked back to James who was fiddling with the corner of the paper as he waited for the others to turn their attention back to him so he could turn the page of the little book. Returning to his place next to James, Remus and Peter also crowded around them, curious about what else was contained within the pages of Rain's small notebook. "Next page," he told James, who complied. The next page contained only one sentence however;

"_Miss Rain Pratt wishes to tell the imbecilic boys who are reading this that they should mind their own business and refrain from reading notebooks that don't belong to them." _The boys blinked in surprise and watched, mesmerised as the words faded from view to be replaced by others. _"Also," _it said as that word was then replaced by another, _"your shoe's are untied." _

It was out of habit and sheer trust(and some stupidity) that made all four boys look down at their shoes to find they were not, in fact, untied. Looking back up at the page before them were two words they weren't expecting; _"Gotcha boys!" _

With that the four of them were splattered with black ink as the notebook sprayed it at them in four long spurts. Once the book was done James slowly placed it back on the table and then took his ink covered glasses off and wiped them on his pants before placing them back on his nose.

"Pads?" He asked after a moment of silence between them all. Sirius glanced at his best friend sheepishly.

"Yes Prongsy?" Sirius answered still suffering from the stunning fact they'd been had.

"If you don't marry her, I bloody well will," James was grinning now. He was obviously impressed with the effort Rain had put into her little prank, the notebook telling them off like that had been a brilliant touch.

"Noted," Sirius grinned back. He wiped some of the ink off his face with his school shirt and unable to help himself, began laughing.

"I think we'd better clean up before going up to the common room or she'll know it was us," Remus warned the others while having a chuckle at their obvious loss here.

"Agreed, I think we also need to give her a point for that prank…" the last part of that sentence Sirius said mostly to himself however.

"What's the score then?" James asked as he wiped more ink off his face. He'd heard Sirius' comment about the point. He watched as his friend grimaced and shove his inky hands into his pockets.

"Two all," he said slowly, "not that I'm keeping track," he added hastily. Remus snorted and rolled his eyes, he wasn't surprised Sirius was tied with her after this escapade.

"In all fairness mate, I think she deserves two points for that masterpiece of trickery," James told his friend as he put an arm around Sirius' shoulder as the four of them left the library, covered in ink and highly amused.

"Think I can get the tie back?" Sirius asked after agreeing James was right and Rain deserved an extra point.

"Pads," James said tisking at his friend, "no doubt, in fact I think you can get at least a point ahead in no time!" It was at these words that Sirius began to worry what James had in mind for Rain and himself but there was little time to dwell on it. They had reached the portrait hole and still had not cleaned themselves up.

Remus, being the only one of the four whose magic was the most reliable for cleaning up their messes, used _Scourgify _to remove the ink covering himself and the other three boys. Once clean the four quickly entered the common room quietly, Sirius looking around for Rain but finding her absent. He frowned, the blasted girl hadn't even eaten anything for dinner and she'd already gone to bed?

"Impossible girl," he repeated to himself.

* * *

><p>The next night, rather than risking the trip through the corridors James, Sirius and Peter grabbed their brooms and flew down to the shadowy grounds below them. Once all six feet landed on the ground the boys hid the brooms for later and attempted their transformations. It took James all of five goes to make his form of a stag actually stick, at one point having a fourteen year old boys head and the rest of him being stag; much to Sirius' amusement.<p>

Peter took a solid fifteen minutes of looking constipated to turn into a rat and Sirius, well, he wasn't having a good night to say the least.

Being worried that Rain would sneak out again didn't help his concentration at all, in fact, it hindered it to the point that transformation was looking pretty much impossible after a total of thirty minutes passing without success.

"Ugh, go on ahead boys. I don't think Padfoot will be joining the fun tonight," he told James and Peter as they waited patiently before him in animal form. He was frustrated with himself, when he'd known Rain was in trouble there had been no problems at all with the transformation process. Yes despite the fact that he knew what it felt like to have such a smooth transformation from human to dog and vice-versa, he was completely unable to do so tonight when his friend needed his support. Infuriating.

James' hoof pawed at the ground and the stag moved forward, slightly concerned with Sirius' obvious frustration. He waved his friends off, not wanted to make them worry or leave Remus alone as a werewolf for too long. He was better when they were with him, more conscious. "I'm fine, I'll go back to bed and have a decent nights sleep without James' incessant snoring!" he told them grinning at stag James. He got a snort in response and watched as James and Peter left for the secret passage under the Whomping Willow. "I'm fine," he repeated to himself once they were gone, "just having a bad night," he added to the night air as justification. Uncertainly he started to walk back to where he'd left his broom, but faltered halfway there. Why was he going back? _Because Remus would off himself if he bit you that's why you bloody great prat! _His inner self replied sarcastically. _Pratt._ That's right, that's what her notebook had said her last name was. Sirius ran a hand through his shaggy black hair and smiled to himself, remembering the fiery spark that had been in her eye when she'd walked around the corner of the bookshelf the day before.

Mentally slapping himself before he began wondering what her hair would look like if she let it out of the messy bun she always wore. "What the hell is wrong with me?" he muttered to himself. Shaking his head at himself he put his hands behind his head and closed his eyes, trying to shut out the mental image of Rain's amusement at finding her notebook covered with ink the next morning when she returned to the library before breakfast. He'd followed her, out of curiosity and had almost approached her to apologise for stalking her, but for some reason he'd been able to open his mouth. Choosing instead to hide in the shadows and watch her in a worried non-creepy way. He hoped.

"Who's there?" called a sharp, suspicious voice from the shadows. Sirius, who'd been lost in his own thoughts spun on his heel quickly, losing his balance in the process. This left him sprawled unceremoniously on the ground on his stomach.

Opening his eyes he found a familiar pair of well-loved sneakers before him and looking up he found himself looking into the suspicious blue eyes of the girl he'd been unable to stop thinking about for the last month. _Merlin help me, _he thought to himself as he started to slowly pick himself up.

"Uh, hi," he said stupidly. Kicking himself immediately after opening his mouth, **now** he could speak to her. She looked him up and down, surveying him carefully; he could see her take note of his house and then slowly saw vague recollection in her eyes.

"What are you doing out here?" she demanded. Her body language was stand-off-ish and not what Sirius had been expecting, of course, he wasn't sure what he **had** been expecting.

"Oh, uh," he faltered for the second time since James and Peter had left, what could he tell her? Her eyes thinned as he floundered for a plausible lie, slowly an idea formed and, unable to think of anything better, he went with it.  
>"I'm," he looked around for effect, "looking for my dog, have you seen him?"<p>

* * *

><p><strong><em>Point Tally:<em>**  
><em>Rain: 3<em>  
><em>Sirius: 2<em>


	7. 7: The Awkward Night Flight

**A/N: Firstly, HOLY CRAP HOW LONG HAS IT BEEEEN?! I'm truly sorry for the amount of time it's been between updates, there is actually a really GOOD reason for it. The fact of the matter is I moved out of home in January and as I was moving states, across water and into a bed-sit(one room) I had to leave more than half my stuff behind in boxes. This effected this particular fic as all my notes for it are in short hand and back at home...*cries* After getting another review today, asking me to please continue I sucked it up and rewrote a tone of my notes and probably changed a bunch of things, including some of the stuff that had remained in my head as some things no longer work now I look back. Then I banged out this...piece of fluff...yes, it is mostly filler, and I didn't PLAN this particular event at all so you'll have to forgive the unplannedness of it all.  
><strong>

**Also, in this chapter there is teenagery awkwardness and I ask that you keep in mind that they ARE only 14 at this point in time. Nobody is really all that smooth at 14, even Sirius. He'll learn to be smooth with time.  
><strong>

**I'll try and get back into writing regularly, I do like this fic and it would be a shame to leave everyone when the plot has barely begun!  
><strong>

**Sorry if the tone of this chapter is a little different, it's almost been a year since my last run with this DX trying to get back into it~  
><strong>

**Let me know what you guys think, you're reviews always make me smile!  
><strong>

**Rue  
><strong>

**I don't own Harry Potter...I just wish I did XD  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>The One Good Thing<strong>

**::~::**

**Chapter Seven**

**The Awkward Night Flight**

* * *

><p><strong>There where three things Rain Pratt knew for certain;<strong>

**One: She had some talent for magic.**

**Two: She was, unfortunately, muggle-born.**

**And Three: She was going to throw herself into the Black Lake at some point. Probably not tonight though.**

* * *

><p>"I'm looking for my dog, have you seen him?" asked the boy before. He looked around the shadowy area around them as he did. Rain frowned, he was looking for his dog?<p>

"What kind of dog?" she folded her arms across her chest. Gryffindor he may be, but Rain knew his reputation well. He scratched the back of his head, tousling is shaggy, near shoulder length hair.

"Well, he's…" he thought for a moment. His own arms folded as he looked up, "big and kinda shaggy looking. He doesn't like seeing people upset and…" he grinned, if a little awkwardly, "he just loves to play fetch," Rain's frown lessened at these words.

"Oh," she said, "he's your dog?" Rain had been sure the dog in question had been an animagus, perhaps she was wrong?

"Yeah!" the boy answered enthusiastically, "I had to hide him on the grounds 'cause I couldn't keep him at home and now he's gone and run off!" he explained animatedly. Rain watched him carefully as he threw up his hands in frustration and began pacing. She was frowning again, this seemed far too convenient somehow, didn't it? Or maybe she was reading too much into it. Either or, she definitely wasn't making her appointment with the lake tonight.

"I see," she said slowly, I suppose you want help looking for him then?" it wasn't really a question she wanted answered to the positive. She was being polite. Nevertheless her arms unfolded and she waited for her answer impatiently. The boy seemed surprised by her words, but happy all the same.

"That would be great!" he exclaimed. His enthusiasm made her eyes thin, she didn't trust it. Definitely too convenient, she decided. He was grinning awkwardly at her, as though he wasn't sure what to say next.

"Well?" she demanded, "shouldn't we start looking?" her eyes were rolled in his general direction. He stared at her a moment and then blinked as though he were coming to his senses.

"Right, um," he began looking around uncertainly, "right now?" he suddenly seemed nervous about something. Rain raised an eyebrow in question, though he didn't take note of her questioning gaze.

"Why not now? You're looking for him, right?" she asked in a straight forward manner. He blinked at her again, like he wasn't expected her to question him.

"Uh," was the only answer she got. It seemed there were several things going on behind the somewhat dazed boys' eyes, though now she thought about it, his eyes seemed familiar…

Another familiar sound reverberated around the two teens, cutting through the still night air. The long, low, howl was loud and unsettlingly close; making the two of them nearly jump out of their skins when it met their ears. "Time to go!" the boy said suddenly. Before Rain knew what was going on her hand had been grabbed and she was hurrying behind him in the shadow of the looming castle.

"Where are we going?!" she demanded quietly. He glanced behind her and grinned as though there were nothing wrong, his eyes said the opposite however.

"Broom," he said simply. Rain blinked in surprise, but said nothing and allowed him to hurry her onward at the sound of yet another howl.

"You know what it is, don't you," she said when he'd finally stopped and released her hand to grab his broom and mount it. He looked at her for a moment, not answering right away.

"Maybe," he said grinning at her again. He was teasing her. She didn't like it. She frowned openly, but when she heard a deep growl a little ways behind her Rain didn't hesitate to take the offered hand and climb onto the broom behind him. They were off the ground before she knew it and it was only then that Rain recalled why it was she normally hated flying. The fear of heights. No no no no no no no no! Please let me down now! Her mind did not appreciate the fact that her feet were no longer touching anything solid. Instinctively Rain grabbed onto the closest solid thing; the young man seated in front of her. She didn't notice that the moment she did he seemed to freeze in place, nor the fact that they were hovering in the air as she'd distracted him from the whole, 'getting-the-hell-away-from-the-creature-that-seemed-to-be-hunting-them' thing.

"Can we please land somewhere soon?" she managed to squeeze out in a small voice. Her eyes were shut tight Rain didn't see him shake his head of whatever he'd been thinking about and glance back at her.

"You ok?" he asked after a moment. He steered the broom higher, angling them toward the Gryffindor common room and the dormitories. Rain shook her head, her eyes still tightly squeezed shut.

"I'm not," she told him and then added, "I don't like flying," this just made him laugh.

"Don't say that 'round James, you'll never hear the end of it," he told her after a moment. Rain frowned and very nearly opened her eyes, but thought against it as she was likely to scream if she saw how high they were.

"Because that's so very likely to happen," she said with a voice dripping with sarcasm. He laughed.

"You never know what the future holds," there was something in his voice that made Rain open her eyes. Of course then she immediately shut them again and buried her face in his back to stop herself screaming. He coughed, "you still freaking out?" he joked in an awkward manner. Rain nodded mutely and felt him pat her hand hesitantly. "So," he began after a few minutes of awkward silence, "which one's yours?" he sounded amused.

"Which one's mine?" she asked confused. Taking a deep breath she slowly looked up to find him grinning at her over his shoulder, he was enjoying this far too much.

"Which window?" he asked again pointing to the windows they were flying near. Rain blinked, staring at them blankly with no idea which one was hers. "Don't know?" he asked her after a moment of silence. Rain shook her head, trying her hardest to not look down. "Ok," he said and steered the broom around the tower, "you can get off in my room and I'll sneak you down to the common room," he told her. She might have been imagining it, but to Rain, his grin had gotten wider.

"Whatever," she said looking away from him. She wished she knew which window her room was, on the other hand, it might be a good thing later.

* * *

><p>Rain half climbed half tumbled through the small window that lead to a round room in the boy's dormitory, it was more or less the same as her own; bar the large mess everywhere she looked. She frowned at the other empty beds as her night's companion climbed in the window behind her.<p>

"Right then, lets get you back to your own room," he said cheerfully. Though she had been expecting a jib about being in a boy's room, Rain was thankful she'd been spared. There's no way he'd pass that up, it'll come…no doubts there, she thought ruefully. He led her through the mess, picking his way to the door, "bloody good job Moony and Wormtail have the beds closest to the door, they're the cleanest…" he said laughing. Rain didn't join him in the banter, but silently agreed; he and Potter were obviously the reason the floor near the back of the room was barely visible. He looked back at her and stopped, frowning suddenly and then stuck his hand out. "I'm Sirius," his frown was instantly replaced with a broad smile that seemed to light his entire face up. Rain eyed him suspiciously, but placed her hand in his and shook it nonetheless.

"Rain," she told him. He stood there, shaking her hand for a few moments before he seemed to come to his senses and released her hand. Coughing awkwardly again, Sirius quickly turned and opened the door; poking his head out to see if the coast of clear. Rain held her arms behind her back as she waited for her verdict, she looked around the empty room again, curious as to where the other members of what she had silently dubbed 'the idiot squad' had gotten to.

"Ok, coast is clear," Sirius whispered to her and motioned for her to follow him. Sighing, Rain silently followed him down the stairs, she knew no-one would have noticed her if she'd gone down alone, but it seemed Sirius Black had something of a hero complex going right now. She'd humour him for tonight, he'd saved her from…whatever that thing was after all. Though the fact that it had now shown up two full moon's in a row was something to be thought about later. Also the possibility that Sirius might know what it is, was a curiosity in itself.

* * *

><p>The Common Room was devoid of students at this time of night, so when Sirius and Rain entered there was little else to do but say goodnight and go on their merry way. Which is what Rain intended to happen.<p>

"Thank you for the help with….whatever that was," she told him with a nod of her head. He grinned and rubbed his neck as though it only just occurred to him what he'd actually done.

"Oh, no problem, anytime, really," he said disjointedly. Rain stood there for a moment as she tried to figure out if he was going to say anything else like he seemed to want to. He didn't, so she bid him good night.

"Right, good night then," she told him then turned on her heel and walked toward the stairs that led to the girls dormitory.

"What? No thank you slash good night kiss?" he called after her jokingly. Rain rolled her eyes.

"You steered a broom, that doesn't warrant a kiss fly-boy," she told him over her shoulder before she disappeared up the staircase.

"Damn, night then," he called back to her.

* * *

><p>Not the expected line, but not surprising…Rain shook her head at what could only be classified as 'antics' in her mind. Tiptoeing around her room to her bed as quietly as she could so as not to wake her dorm mates, she thought about what had just transpired. She knew any other giggling school girl was be all floaty about Sirius Black deigning to talk to her, but she knew he was a-a-what did Lily call them? Toe-Rags? She thought so. Yes, Toe-Rag suited Sirius and James perfectly. Lupin was alright she supposed and the other one was more or less harmless.<p>

"And here I was all ready for my date with the lake…" she said exasperatedly. It seemed it wasn't meant to be, tonight anyway. "There's always tomorrow…" she said softly as she curled up under her blankets. As she fell asleep the image that haunted her was the strangely familiar blue-grey eyes of Sirius Black.


	8. 8: Point and Match

**A/N: You asked for 'MOAR' so here is some MOAR lol **

**Like the last few chapters, this one wasn't planned out at all. However, this was a very fun chapter to write. It also came very easily, which was a relief as the last one didn't. Getting back into the habit of writing regularly as November is getting closer and I haven't written much at all this year. Shame on me! **

**It should be said that reviews make me happy and cause me to get off my lazy arse and write more!**

**~Rue**

* * *

><p><strong>The One Good Thing <strong>

**::~:: **

**Chapter Eight**

**Point and Match (A.K.A: OWN'D)**

* * *

><p>When James, Peter and a tired looking Remus clambered into their room through the window that morning they were greeted with a rather unusual scene. James had been expecting his best mate to be sound asleep by the time they got back; in reality Sirius was lying on his bed still fully dressed and humming absent-mindedly to himself. James frowned, Sirius didn't hum, ever. He glanced at Remus who also appeared amused by the fact that Sirius was neither greeting them or even acknowledging their presence. Yup, today was going to be a good day.<p>

* * *

><p>It wasn't until someone clicked their fingers in his face a few times that Sirius actually noticed that it was morning and the others were back. He stared at the three of them a moment before taking in they were there.<p>

"You know, it usually me who can't think straight in the mornings," Remus joked tiredly. Sirius blinked and then grinned broadly at his best friends.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Moons," he replied winningly. Jumping off his bed attempted to straighten himself up for breakfast, which was mainly making sure he looked as unkempt as possible while still appearing presentable. It was a fine line that Sirius was still in the process of perfecting, but he thought he was getting it. 'Minnie' hadn't lectured him about it even once this week, a feat in itself from his perspective.

"You were humming," James told him from across the room. Sirius frowned into the mirror and looked over at his friend. James was grinning in amusement at him as he leaned against one of the posts of his four poster bed.

"Was not," he said frowning more. James snickered at this and looked at Remus, who also looked more than a little amused. Even Peter was grinning at him. "I don't hum," he insisted again.

"Apparently you do, mate," James said brightly. He walked over to Sirius and slung an arm around his friend; he was still grinning. This wasn't going to be pleasant. At all. Although, maybe, he could turn this around? Yes, that was better than James' gloating. How could it go wrong?

"Well I guess I did have a good night," he said grinning back at James suddenly. James stopped walking Sirius to the door, he looked back at his friend and then to Remus who had also stopped grinning.

"You got left behind because you suck at transforming mate, how is that a good night?" James probed. Sirius shrugged, yes, this was much more fun than whatever James had had in mind.

"Maybe so, of course then I had an excellent time playing the hero for Rain," James snorted. He walked backward to the door, smirking at Sirius all the while.

"I don't think playing fetch-the-stick counts as 'playing the hero' Padfoot," Remus said patting Sirius on the shoulder as he walked past him yawning.

"But I couldn't transform last night, besides I don't play fetch-the-stick," Sirius threw the ball back in their court as he walked past them, out the door and into the common room. Yup, that was much more fun. He could hear them all scrambling down the stairs after him, oh yes, being the one in the middle of the attention was much better when he was in control. _James should learn to share the spotlight more often…_he thought amused.

"What are you saying?" James demanded after he, Remus and Peter had caught him up. Sirius kept walking, a mischievous grin appearing on his face as he climbed out of the portrait hole and into the hallway beyond.

"We had a chat, evaded Moony, had some more chatting, she hugged me, took her to our room 'cause she didn't know which window was hers, snuck her down to the common room and almost scored a kiss," he said as fast and as nonchalantly he could for effect. After a few moments of silence, James quickly stood in front of Sirius with a look that was a combined mixture of confusion, jealousy, pride and a little bit of annoyance. Remus on the other hand simply looked impressed as he clapped a hand on his shoulder.

"You really talked to her?" Peter said in surprise. Sirius snorted in response, it wasn't until he realised they wanted more information that he grinned.

"Well yeah, how could I not?" he answered coolly. James raised his eyebrows, but said nothing, "Shut it, Prongs, I mean it," Sirius warned. He knew exactly what James was thinking; 'if that's true why didn't you talk to her before?'.

"So?" Remus asked after a moment of James and Sirius having their small silent argument.

"So what?" Sirius asked confused for a moment. James rolled his eyes and Remus sighed, "what?" he asked again.

"I think…they want to know what happened…?" Peter finally answered hesitantly. Sirius looked at Peter a moment before he realised they wanted the details, this was amusing. He looked to James in feigned surprise, deciding on melodrama and sarcasm to be his ticket out of the inquisition he was currently in.

"I swear you lot are worse than school girls with the amount of gossiping you do!" he said loudly. A few passing student looked over at them in interest as they headed down the stairs to the Great Hall. "You lads know I don't kiss and tell," he said winking at a couple of girls as the passed, sending them into a fit of giggles. He did love being able to do that.

"Ah, but you didn't get the kiss," James interrupted his reverie, "so you CAN and WILL tell," Sirius raised and eyebrow at his best friends.

"Really? I don't remember making that decision…" he scratched his chin. James once again slung an arm around him, though this time Remus joined in and did the same on Sirius' other side. Trapping him. _I really need to get better at this…_Sirius decided after the two boys began to steer him down the stairs.

"The whole, 'brothers forever' thing equates to you spilling your guts when we demand it," Remus explained good naturedly.

"Ah," was all Sirius could say to that. It was true, too true. _Bugger._ Was the only word his mind could come up with at the time. "Fine," he caved, "what do you gossiping fish-wives want to know?" he said exasperatedly. James grinned.

"Well, lets see, what do you want to know Moony?" James asked across Sirius' shoulders. Remus thought for a moment before answering.

"What was she actually like?" was the question he finally asked. They were standing outside the Great Hall now. Sirius looked up at the ceiling as he thought; crossing his arms and frowning he allowed his mind to wander back to when she'd first shown up last night and his first, human, impression of her.

"Ah," he said again after a moment, "she was," he paused again, unsure of how to word it, "blunt, suspicious 'cause, hey it's me, bit lonely which was expected, 'fraid of heights oh and she had this nice dollop of sarcasm," he grinned to himself, "so in a word; brilliant," he summed up, nodding to himself.

"Afraid of heights?" James asked surprised. Sirius nodded grinning.

"She said she hates flying cause of it," James' mouth opened at this information, but no words came out. Remus snorted with laughter next to Sirius.

"I think you just broke him," both Remus and Sirius began to laugh at this.

"How could anyone hate flying?!" James asked incredulously. Sirius shrugged, a difficult task as he was the tallest of the three of them and by this point both Remus and James were practically hanging off him.

"Who cares I scored a hug because of it!" Sirius laughed. And once again James' attention whipped back to Sirius. _When will I learn?_ He asked himself with an inward groan of annoyance at himself.

"What do you mean, you 'scored a hug'?" James quickly demanded. Sirius would have answered, however he seemed to forget how to talk as Rain Pratt walked past the tight-nit group of boys as they loitered outside the Great Hall.

"Uhh," he said blankly. Then an idea struck him and he grinned, watching as Rain sat at the Gryffindor table and grabbed some toast. "Sorry lads," he said as he slid out of his friends grasp and rubbed his hands together mischievously. He turned to them and grinned, "I'm going to get me a girlfriend," with that he spun around and walked toward where Rain had parked herself confidently.

* * *

><p>"Five Galleons she turns him down," James said to Remus as they watched from the entrance. Remus snorted in response.<p>

"Ten she pretends she doesn't know him and slash or verbally kicks his arse," he replied.

"Ten she goes out with him…" Peter said quietly beside them. Both James and Remus grinned at this, replying to Peter's bet at the same time with a well timed 'done'.

* * *

><p>Sirius was confident this conversation would go well, how could it not after last night? She'd been nice, he'd been nice, they'd bantered and sure she'd taken him out with that last remark over her shoulder that had cause him to lose half the night to day dreams he would never admit to having. She liked him though, he knew she did. How could she not? He was Sirius Black. Everyone liked him. Alright, maybe not the Slytherin's, but they didn't count. Slytherin's never counted. <em>Be cool.<em> He told himself as he sat down next to her, tripping slightly on the bench. _Yes, that's exactly what I meant when I said 'be cool'…_He turned to Rain to find her ignoring him completely. No, she wasn't ignoring him, she just didn't realise it WAS him. Yes, that was it.

"Morning Rain," he greeted her. She didn't even glance up from her notebook, instead she took a small bite of toast and continued writing. Sirius frowned. Maybe she'd realise he was talking to her if he just kept talking. Yeah, that would work. She just wasn't used to being talked to. "So, I was wondering if you-" Sirius broke off mid-sentence as Rain picked up her bag and stood up to leave.

"Gosh the bees are loud this morning," she said as she walked away. Floored, Sirius was only able to sit there with his mouth half open as he gazed after her. It was only when he caught sight of James and Remus almost falling over from laughing at him so much out in the entrance hall that he came to his senses.

"Did she just call me a bee?" Frank Longbottom grinned at him from across the table.

"Ya know, I think she did," Sirius allowed his head to meet the table as he mentally abused himself. Of course she didn't want anything to do with him. He was Sirius Black. Known prankster and trouble maker in general. Idiot. James, Remus and Peter wandered over, still laughing. James slapped a hand on Sirius' back as he sat down. Remus took the seat Rain had vacated and Peter sat next to Frank opposite them.

"Never mind mate, you did just win Moony twenty Galleons," James said as he tried to cheer his friend up.

"Good for me," Sirius groaned. He smacked his head against the table muttering to himself as he did. Remus watched him amused and then looked up at James and grinned.

"You know, he's almost as bad as you are with Evens," Remus was given a long hard glare for his trouble. It didn't bother him though, he knew he was right and the glare just made it funnier. James chose to ignore Remus' dig about Lily Evens, who even as they spoke was leaving the Great Hall in a hurry and James totally wasn't keeping tabs on her…

"So what's the score now?" James asked after Evens was out of sight and Sirius had finally sat up. There was a large red patch on his forehead now after he'd repeatedly banged his head against the table. Sirius shrugged, pretending not to know.

"Not keeping track…" he said after a moment. James raised his brows again and waited for Sirius to cave once more, it didn't take long. Sirius eventually screwed up his nose at them and sighed, "Six-Five, her lead…" he told them glumly.

"Weren't you at two-three yesterday?" Remus asked. Sirius nodded mutely and then dropped his head back onto the table. He didn't see James rubbing his chin thoughtfully as he looked at the entrance of the Hall.

"She is a much better player than I expected," he said amused. He grinned as Sirius turned his head to look at him from the table, "we need to bring out the big guns for this one lads," he said as his grin broadened. Sirius groaned again, returning to banging his head against the table.

"You know anything we do will just make it worse, right?" he heard Remus say over him. All James did was laugh. That was never a good sign. Ever.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Point Tally:<strong>_  
><em>Rain: 6<em>  
><em>Sirius: 5<em>


End file.
